Cheers To Comeuppance
Chapter 10

Sadie

It felt like nothing was going my way for the first time in my life, and I finally understood what people meant by seeing red while upset. What pissed me off most was that nobody knew a wave of nausea and cramps hit me before I could put those peasants in their place. I couldn’t stand to lose face, especially in front of Leon and that pathetic excuse for a woman, but I didn’t have a choice. I stepped on the gas, racing against time to get home before my symptoms came back.

As soon as I made it home, I ran upstairs to my room, threw my bag down, and slammed the door behind me. “UGH!!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, punching one of my pillows before screaming into it in utter frustration. It was just my f*****g luck running into that bastard ex-husband of mine at the doctor’s office. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to smear his image even more in public, but instead, that stupid doctor Jeffrey married had to stick her nose where it didn’t belong. And what the f**k did she mean when she said Land and Mall was her business? That hussy actually ran the f*****g place!? Jeffrey told me Annika was nothing but a small-time family doctor; he never said anything about her owning the damn practice. I could have sworn he said something about it being a joint property between her and that stupid OB/GYN Malloy. Did Jeffrey lie to me? I immediately called him to get to the bottom of this.

“Hello?”

“Baby!?” I couldn’t help but scream at him.

“Whoa. What’s wrong? Why is my angel upset?”

“I was bullied by your f*g wife today! That’s why I’m upset!”

“What? What do you mean Annika bullied you?” I narrated what happened at the clinic, omitting the fact that Leon was there, and exaggerated everything a bit to make me the victim. There was complete silence over the phone, so I figured I would just add fuel to the fire.

“Baby, she’s too much. I think she knows that I’m your mistress. Why else would she target me unprovoked? I only went in for a checkup, but I wasn’t even allowed to see the doctor. Even that OB/GYN took her side and told me they wouldn’t serve me anymore, that they had the right to refuse treatment and service, like any business owner. What did she mean by that anyway? Baby, you said she’s a small-time doctor. Why did she claim she was the owner?”

“Annika actually claimed that she’s the owner?”

“Yeah. That’s why your old lady treated me so poorly. I hate her! She’s an evil witch!”

“Calm down, my sweet. I’ll deal with Annika, and she won’t be able to bully you anymore soon enough. Let me handle all of it; you don’t have to worry about a thing. Once I’m done with her, we will have it all. And then, you can move into the penthouse of your own free will without having to sneak in when she’s not home because it will soon be your home—our home.”

“You meant that? You’re gonna act on my behalf, right?”

“Of course, baby. I’ll do anything for you. I love you with all of my heart, and I’ll get you everything you deserve. And for the matter of Annika owning the business, don’t listen to her. She’s just putting on airs in front of you. I highly doubt Annika knows anything about you. How could she? No one knows about our love. But, soon, the entire country will know, and we will show them what true love really is. She’s nothing compared to you and your background. She came from a lowly family and was raised by her grandmother and aunt. Annika is nothing but a speck of dust when it comes to you, Sadie, so just hold on a bit longer. Once I get us what we want, you can use my name to destroy her bit by bit for bullying you today. Annika won’t be able to stay in New York after what she did to you when all is said and done. I promise.”

“You’re the best! I love you!”

“I love you too, Sadie. I have to leave for court now, so I’ll see you in a couple of days. Annika is getting suspicious since I haven’t been back at the penthouse, but I can’t have her thinking I’m cheating, so I need to give her the impression I was just blowing off steam. She has nothing on us, and soon, she’ll have nothing at all.”

“You’re so amazing!” He hummed lovingly and hung up. I knew it. That stupid b***h was just talking nonsense. There’s no way that a nobody like her could own a clinic as grand as Land and Mall. Even though I knew she worked as a doctor there, I went anyway because Dr. Malloy has made headlines as one of the best OB/GYNs despite her age. Though she’s not exactly old, she’s not all that young either. Regardless, I’ll make her pay for humiliating me today. No one gets away with bullying Sadie Galloway.

Jeff

If it weren’t for the fact that I was due in court any moment now, I would have gone berserk after hearing what happened. I didn’t think it was possible to despise Annika any more than I already did, and then I found out she dared to bully Sadie. Was she out of her f*g mind? Did she not realize who she was dealing with? Even if, by some miracle, she knew of my affair with Sadie, her father was a major kingpin in the real estate world. He could make a company go bankrupt at the drop of a hat. Annika must have lost her goddamn mind because if David Galloway were to hear of this, he’d destroy the practice and that gold mine would be in ruins.

It was always the same old story with Annika; she could never f*****g do anything right. How could she, given her poor background? I was stupid to have fallen in love with such a useless woman. She couldn’t even pleasure me in bed, always fumbling around, and she couldn’t suck d!ck properly. Why was I dumb enough to marry her? I should have listened to my parents and waited because then I would have seen just how useless Annika Hiller really was. Now, I will have to go back to the penthouse today to butter her up, which I hated most, since the thought of touching her made me want to vomit.

But no matter. If I wanted the penthouse, all it would take was for Annika to sign the prenup I drafted without realizing what she was signing. If I managed to pull the same stunts I did to help Sadie win her trial against that good-for-nothing Leon Von Doren, then getting rid of Annika and taking everything from her would be a piece of cake. Besides, what could she possibly do to me with her shitty upbringing and little to no money to her name?

“D.A. Hollands, the meeting is about to begin,” my secretary announced after coming into my office.

“I’ll be right there,” I responded while gathering the necessary files. It was showtime, and I just needed to get through a couple more big cases. Then I would have no problems manipulating Annika into getting what I wanted. Why? Because she’s just that stupid and would never be able to prove I’ve been stepping out. She may be accusing me now, but that won’t last because I knew every single one of her weak spots, and I was going to crush her using them.

Annika

“Mr. Von Doren, do we have a deal?”

“We have a deal, Doc. Also, please, call me Leon.” I looked down and simply nodded at his suggestion, failing to use words as if they were caught in my throat like a frog. Every time he said his own name, it sounded so smooth and just rolled off his tongue. I never thought a name could be so sexy. Wait, sexy? God, what the hell is the matter with me?

“I, um, …”

“I’ll have Jorge team up with Counselor Malloy, and we will get everything we need to win your case against that two-timing piece of s**t. Also, I do suggest calling your family and informing them. Hunter is a competent divorce attorney, but you have to remember that your husband, or should I say soon-to-be ex-husband, is the current D.A. despite being in his mid-twenties. He didn’t get to where he is today by being stupid or careless. Even though he didn’t formally represent Sadie during my divorce trial, he was the one who pulled the strings to get rid of the evidence or replace them faulty, and Sadie’s dad is the one who paid him.”

“I get it. I just hate having to admit that my family was right. I tried so hard to prove them wrong, and I honestly thought I had, but now, seeing where my marriage is, I don’t think that I would be able to face them with my head held high. I’m a disgrace to the Silverton family name. No woman or man of the Silverton family has ever gotten a divorce or stepped out on their spouse. I’ll be the first.”

“You didn’t fail. Jeffrey did. And no matter what your family said to you in the past, I know full well the reputation of your family name. You’re their youngest heir, and from what I know, you’re also the only daughter of your parents. Your older siblings have their own fortunes, but you were doted on from the day you were born by everyone. Given your father’s current position, the Silverton family fortune is yours to inherit when you give birth to a child as well.”

“How do you know so much about my family? Even Kenzie and Hunter don’t know this much about me.”

“Doc, I do my research. Jorge doesn’t work for me for shits and giggles. He’s the best P.I. in the country. Why do you think he charges ten grand an hour?”

My eyes grew wide like saucers, and hearing that enormous amount was enough to make my head swim.

“Hold on. You didn’t know Jorge charged that much?” Leon asked me.

“NO!!” I screamed and slammed my hands on his desk while jumping to my feet. “What the f**k is Hunter thinking!?! I just needed proof of Jeff’s infidelity! Any P.I. can get that!”

“Actually, no, Doc. They can’t because this is the D.A. of upstate New York we’re talking about. You got lucky because he was too distracted by Sadie’s loose v****a to notice you were secretly filming them that one night.”

“Pfft!” I spat out, trying to contain my laughter at his snide remark.

“No, really, as her ex-husband, I know for a fact that she sucked in bed. Thank God I used condoms with her. Otherwise, who knows what kind of filth I may have contracted.”

Boom. The notion of possibly contracting an STD felt like a grenade exploding in my face, and it brought me to my knees with a mixture of fear and disgust.

“Doc, you alright?”

“AHHH!! Why didn’t I think of that sooner? Oh. My. God! I slept with that man while he was f*****g your ex. What if he contracted something and then gave it to me!? Oh my god, I need to get tested! I was so preoccupied with getting my revenge that I didn’t realize I might have a f*****g STD because of them!” I sprang to my feet and grabbed my purse, intent on running out.

“Whoa! Doc, calm down. Freaking out isn’t going to solve your problems. In any case, if you go to some random clinic to get tested, I highly doubt your results would come back fast enough. Come with me, I have a friend who works as a disease specialist, and he could get you instant results.”

“Oh, okay, thank you, Mr—”

“Leon. Please, just call me Leon.” His piercing gaze was so unsettling that my hands automatically began fidgeting in my lap. Why was it so difficult for me to say his name? “Doc, come on. It can’t be that hard to say my name, right?” he insisted, as if he had just read my mind.

“I …”

“How about if we both drop the titles and just use our names with each other, hm? I’ll go first. Annika.” Holy s**t! I don’t think my name ever sounded so sensual until it came out of that man’s mouth.

“Le … Leon.” I stuttered and immediately averted my eyes. What was it about this man that made me so self-conscious? He was only a business partner—albeit an insanely good-looking business partner who was tall, fit, tattooed, tanned, and had a fantastic jawline, physique, and a*s. God, why do I keep circling back to his a*s?

“See. Not that hard, right?” Leon teased while pinching my chin, prompting me to look up at him, and it was only then I realized his eyes were light gray. Good grief, why hadn’t I noticed this before? This only added to his overall sex appeal, and I couldn’t help but fall victim to my desire. My insides were practically melting! Why couldn’t I have married him instead? Kenzie was right. Sadie Galloway is a f*****g it for giving up this Adonis sex god for that good-for-nothing, needle-d**k bastard, Jeff.

“No, not hard. It’s just … I’m not used to calling people by their first names right away. You can ask Kenzie and Hunter. It took me a solid six months to address Hunter on a first name basis instead of his surname when Kenzie and he first got married. Honestly, even now, after knowing them for so many years, I still refer to Hunter as Counselor Malloy.”

“That’s fine. I guess you’ll have to keep saying it until you get used to it, right?” Leon asked playfully. Was he … flirting with me? “Come on. Let’s go see my buddy, and then how about we get some dinner to celebrate our newfound partnership?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Mr. … I mean, Leon. What if Jeff tries to turn this around on me and uses it against me in the end? I can’t lose to him. Not again.”

“He can’t do anything to me, and he knows that. Besides, I doubt he would be stupid enough to use the same trick twice. Not to mention, our relationship differs from his and Sadie’s because it’s not like we’re having an affair. What we have is a business partnership. If Jeffrey does try to pin this on you for whatever reason, we’ll tell him that you’re searching for a bigger office space for your practice. After all, Land and Mall is growing, and I doubt that tiny space you currently have will last long,” he argued with a wry smile etched on his face.

“My practice is not tiny!” I exclaimed, taking offense to his comment. “I’ll have you know that—”

“I know you bought it with your own money. I’m not trying to offend you, Annika. I’m trying to give you a way out. You already know who I am, what I deal with when it comes to business, and how successful I am. I’m sure you already know that my wealth is comparable to yours.” I gulped because it was clear he could read my mind. Sure, I did some research on his name and found his background. Unlike him, my family hid mine for my safety. His was completely open to the public, and even his divorce was public information. Kenzie and I were stupefied when we saw how much he was worth and how successful his commercial real estate businesses were.

“You’re right. With your background in commercial real estate and my being a business owner, it would be easy to dupe Jeffrey.”

“I’ll have my assistant draw up a contract just in case. We’ll both sign it in about another week while Jorge gathers more evidence for us and delivers it to Hunter. We’ll even have it notarized, and we can go looking for office spaces in larger plaza buildings to legitimize it further. Or, we can even look into replaceing space in different states. Since my business is nationwide, we can use the pretense of you looking to expand your practice to another city or state. There’s nothing unusual about it, as all business owners do this.”

“Well, you definitely have your wits about you, Mr. … Dammit. Leon. Sorry, I’m trying,” I grumbled.

“It’s alright. Just try harder,” he said and patted the top of my head. Instinctively, I swatted at him, and I could tell he was mortified by what had just happened. “Sorry, Doc. That was uncalled for. I don’t know why—”

“Just don’t do it again. Remember, this is a business partnership, nothing more,” I cut him off and spoke rather harshly. I immediately noticed his eyes faltered before he agreed and led me out. Did I just hurt his feelings?